ChatterBank0 min ago
Fao Theshedman
4 Answers
Thank you for letting me know about your avatar. A friend of mine who I play golf with was also on the Ark in the 70's. He is from Barnsley, AKA, The Barnsley Bandit. He did his training at Ganges and reckons he was a Button Boy - anything for an extra bob!
Another friend of mine also served on the Ark back in the 50's. He was present at the nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific, although I don't know if he was on the Ark for those. He was a fantastic lad called Ged Wall. He passed away many years ago at the age of 42 with Leukemia, which his family reckoned he acquired due to the nuclear tests.
I am the secretary of an association that remembers all those lost on HM Ships Glorious, Ardent and Acasta on June 8th 1940. We hold memorials every year in Plymouth on that date. Unfortunately, we are now unable to gain access to the Church of St Nicholas at HMS Drake, Devonport due to changes in personnel, procedures and security. Understandable as it is an operational nuclear base. But thanks again for letting me know about your avatar.
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My father served On Arc Royal during WW2 in the Baltic and Atlantic. He was then transfered to Illustrious and spent the rest of the war in warm waters in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Pom pom gun crew. His brother was also on Illustrious. My father was named after his father's youngest brother who was blown to smithereens at Gallipoli. My son is named after them both.
The loss of Ark Royal in WW2 was a big blow, particularly as her Swordfish had inflicted the damaging blow to the steering gear of the Bismark, which enabled the chasing British navy to catch up and sink her.
On one of our weekends in Plymouth about 15 years ago, we were stood on The Hoe, next to Smeetons Tower, when we saw an aircraft carrier sailing up Plymouth Sound. We thought she was going to Devonport but she went about and sailed back down The Sound. We watched as she seemed to be doing 180 deg turns. The following day in HMS Drake, I asked one of the officers about it and he said it was HMS Illustrious carring out steering training. Who knew? sadly, Illustrious was decommissioned in 2014, but still doing good work up to the end.
It drives me mad when I read about the, admittedly disappointing, teething problems that the superb HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales have suffered in their initial early service from the anti Britain crew. The creeps who sieze on any oppurtunity to criticise the UK easily forget that when France launched their carrier De Gaule it was beset with problems for about 5 years and even broke down on day 1 of a prestige trip. The Americans have had huge problems with their own latest carrier and its magnetic launch system is still not operating as intended. Neither Les Grennouiles nor the septics have mocked or been critical of the superb ships. They know full well what a complicated piece of hardware these ships are. The old sailors from previous carriers would have been astounded by the capabilities of them.
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